Thread: Need advice on selecting crappie poles / rigs

I use a 10ft crappie pole w/ a black crappie reel (1:1 ratio) and was wondering what other folks are using. I'm thinking about buying another one for my son but had a few questions. Is the crappie reel a necessity and what are the benefits of having one? Some of the poles that I priced around vary a great deal in range ($15 to $40). What are folks generally using?

thanks!

hey freak,

i have about 35 crappie poles and i have at least one from almost every manufacturer. my favorites are wally marshall's (bps) and B'n'M. they seem to be able to stand up to wear and tear, and if i should break one of my wally marshall's, they come with a one year, no questions asked warranty from bass pro shops. the BnM's i can buy a new tip from bacon's fishing tackle for about $15. i have a west point, and it is heavy. i like the cork handle, it just is easier on my hands after holding it all day, but they are a little more expensive. i have one made by crappie wizard, and i like it a lot too.

as far as a reel goes, it just makes it easier if you need to fish shallower or deeper than the length of your rod. i fish a bunch where i am fishing 18-30 feet deep and if youi don't have a reel, youi end up "well roping" the fish in, and that takes all the fun out of fighting the fish.

i don't spend a bunch on crappie rod reels. i like the spinning type versus the bait cast type. i can set my drag to where i can just rip line off if i need to go a little deeper. and it takes a hawg to strip drag. the smaller the spinning reel, the more i liek it.

hope this helps and keep your lines tight,

doc

I use Quantum's. Tackle shop here has them called sac-a-lait specials.They come in 10 & 11 ft. long with cork handles and bottom mounted reel seat like a fly rod. I use the 10 ft. Very light weight. I also have a 10 ft. American Rodsmith. Designed the same way. My 1st pole was a HI-Tek 11 ft. that has the cork handle and reel seat taken off and a cork handle with bottom reel seat put in it's place. Love all of them. Each has caught more fish than I can count. I have Pfleuger automatic fly reels on them. I also have three 10ft. Hi-Tek's that have the cork handles with the reel seat about 10-12 inches from the end with some Shakespeare crappie reels that I use in my spider rig set up. Haven't used any of the others so I can't speak for them....

I use the 11 ft Custom Crappie BnM poles with the cork handle and reel seat on the end. I use a Zebco #11 triggerspin reel because it works good and is cheap. The reel allows me to do like Doc said in that I can go from 1ft to 30ft in a matter of seconds. I believe the main thing with fish is the right depth at any time of the year. Depth of the baitfish, tempature range, and sunlight all determine the depth of the fish at any given time. This changes thru out almost everyday, so I feel I need to adjust to their needs and I like to do that quickly to get back on them when they move out. Three years ago I caught 27 big fish in about an hour in 6ft deep water fishing 4ft deep. I had caught about a dozen in the previous 3 hours while fishing in 28ft of water fishing 16ft deep. The high for the day was about 40 degrees, so you never know.

Very useful!

I use these Pinnacle Vertex IM7 Graphite noodle Spinning Rod they are a good around rod .they will cast a 1/16 jig over 40’ great for jigging. never had a fish to break one fought 15lb catfish with um. I use them for wp catfish bream & bass. I buy them off ebay they run about $30. they perform just as good as a $100 custom crappie rod. john

I use the B&M Bucks ultralight in the 12 foot and 11 foot. I find they are very sensitive. I also use the line minder reels.

B&M 10ft UL with Okuma ultralight reels
Just start using the Okumas and they are great for the price.

BnM ,,12 FT BnM reels!!

I have a couple of BnM BBUL 12 and 11 footers, like Dwyane said, very sensitive..